Hoarder

After walking/dragging/carrying Noah and Jonah home from the T station through the snow and then putting them in the house so that I could shovel the sidewalk again today the first thing Grace says to me as I walk in the door is, "I've been watching this show and you be a hoarder." My blood sugar was low and I was tired. Needless to say this is not what I wanted to be listening to. So I angrily started throwing things away to prove her wrong. The truth is that I am not a hoarder. As in, it's not so much that I want to keep everything so much as I don't want to create so much garbage. So I try to use things or get other uses out of them before throwing them away. Ideally I wouldn't purchase these items in the first place. But I'm not the one purchasing all these things. Grace is.
So she went after all the stuff I didn't purchase. (Because all I really purchase is food and occasionally some expense of Grace's or gift for her.) Like my sticks (which I find) or toys that people give me or Noah's arts and crafts. What the hell? I don't want to just toss those in the garbage. Well not right away and not in front of him. Let's try to at least get a picture of his art work and put it on Facebook or something first right? The truth is most of his stuff does get thrown away just because he drops it or it gets wet or some other tragedy happens to it and it has to be thrown out.

Then I started thinking. I guess the nastiest things that I have been keeping are the two Golem like Lion Heads that I made upstairs our of Paper mache. First of all, they are sort of failures. The bug one really should go. But when the weather was warm I did bring it out and the children in my Kung Fu playground had a ball with it. That's why I didn't want to part with it just yet. The second one is smaller and my plan is to continue to make it harder and harder and sculpt it and we can sort of break it down and remake it every year adding new color or paint or pieces to it. So when you think of it like that, it doesn't take up much space. Plus it is something to do with some of the junk mail that we get before it is recycled. But right now it is kind of ugly and that lion head that the Kittens classroom made did make me rethink what I was doing.

Finally my sticks. Okay it is sort of a disease. Every time I see a stick I can potentially do Kung Fu with that is up for grabs For Free.. I want it. Even though I haven't had all that much time to do Kung Fu with wooden sticks recently. But eventually I will. Not just I but We. As in me and my children, and hopefully some other kids too. And everntually we are going to break are sticks because we will be using them so much. Plus there sticks, they don't take up that much space.
"Oh yes they do." says Grace.